24th July 2015

League News

Hereford FC are delighted to announce that we will welcome the family and friends of Adam Stansfield as special guests at Edgar Street on August 1st when The Bulls entertain Hull City U21s. Adam’s mother, Gig, sent the following message “I just wanted to thank you and all at Hereford FC for the invite and for the amazing support you continue to give to our Foundation.

“As we approach the 5th anniversary of losing Ads, the charity we set up in his name is continuing to grow and help so many young children to participate in ‘kicking a ball around’.

The Adam Stansfield Foundation will be collecting around the ground before the game, and Gig says that the donations they receive will make a real difference. “We are working very hard to get the message out there that bowel cancer isn’t a disease that only attacks older people. Your very generous offer of a collection at the ground will enable us to continue in doing this. We are very proud and happy to be able to see so many young people enjoying the game that our Adam was so passionate about.”

The foundation will sponsor one of the United In The Community sides for the coming season.

Gig ends by saying “Hereford will always be a very special place for us because Adam & Marie loved living there and being part of what is a wonderful community

Paget Rangers have pulled off a major coup by signing non-league goal scoring legend Mark Bellingham from WMRL Cradley Town. Bellingham has 662 career goals to date and adds significant firepower to the Bears, who have also signed Jem Mills from Aston United. Enville Athletic new signing, Kieran Miller from Sporting Khalsa, hit a second half hat-trick as they came from 3-0 down to beat WMRL Div1 Wyrley 4-3 at Four Ashes. Plenty of higher league scalps being taken in pre-season by teams from all 4 divisions of the Midland Football League – see the results for more details. The travels of the Press Officer

Friday 17th July

Sporting Khalsa 1 Halesowen Town 1

Sporting Khalsa hosted Evostik Northern Premier Division Halesowen at the Aspray Arena. I hadn’t visited Noose Lane for many years and on my last visit it was the home of Willenhall Town. What was a rundown stadium with one of the worst pitches imaginable has been transformed into an excellent set-up. On the park, Ian Rowe’s side were more than a match for the Yeltz who are two steps higher in the pyramid. Khalsa were unlucky to go behind to a scrambled goal but deservedly levelled with a cracking goal from Ben Hadley. Khalsa missed a glorious opportunity

to win the game but their pace and approach play will be welcome addition to the Premier Division. As an aside, how many other clubs will be serving delicious samosas at Half-time?

Tuesday 21st July

Bromsgrove Sporting Stratford Town 3

Another ground that I last visited over a decade ago as my team, Stafford Rangers clinched promotion at the Victoria ground despite losing 3-2 to Bromsgrove Rovers. Rovers are now no more and the Rouslers, as Bromsgrove Sporting are known, have been building a strong foundation for the last 5 seasons. Visitors Stratford Town were promoted to the Evostik Southern Premier Division last season and with 3 leagues separating the sides, a tough evening was anticipated for Bromsgrove. How wrong we were. Easily the best game I have seen this pre-season with Stratford holding a 1-0 lead at half-time through a penalty from Richard Gregory. The home-side were in the lead within 15 minutes of the second half with Josh McKenzie and Sean Brain on the score sheet. Stratford equalised through Aaron Stringfellow following an excellent move but the Rouslers weren’t deterred and a wonderful run and finish from Ollie Gibson gave them the lead again. The goal of the game from 17 year old Charlie Faulkner, who controlled and shot on the turn, gave Stratford a last minute equaliser. The crowd of around 150 was thoroughly entertained and if this is what is going to be served up at The Victoria ground this season, it will be well worth a visit.

Plenty of games for me over the next week with Brocton, Coventry Sphinx and AFC Wulfrunians likely to be on my list.

Pre- season results
Friday 17th July
Malvern town 0 Westfields 2 (Jones, Febery)
Sporting Khalsa 1 (Hadley) Halesowen Town 1
Saturday 18th July AFC Solihull 0 Alcester Town 5
AFC Wulfrunians 0 AFC Telford 3
Austrey Rangers 5 Jaguar Daimler 1
Bardon Hill 2 (Tozer, Disney) Gresley 1
Barton United 2 (Grant, Roberts) Walsall Phoenix 3
Bilston Town 1 Stafford Town 1 (McAnespie)
Brocton 1 (Jones) Cadbury Athletic 0
Chelmsley Town 1 (Lloyd) Pilkington XXX 0
Coventry Sphinx 4 (Thomson 3, Piggon) Worcester City 0
Coventry United 2 Dudley Town 0
Cradley Town 1 Bromsgrove Sporting 0
Droitwich Spa 1 Stourport Swifts 3
Dunkirk 1 (Bopp) Derby County XI 1
Enville Athletic 4 (Miller 3, Brown)Wyrley 3
FC Stratford 1 Wrens Nest 4
Feckenham 2 (Ager, Bennett) Redditch United Reserves 2
Heath Hayes 0 Tividale 2
Heather St Johns 3 Chasetown 5
Highgate United 2 (Brown 2) Black Country Rangers 0
Jet Blades 8 Kenilworth Town 0
Lichfield City 1 (Clarke) Walsall Wood 1
Merthyr Town 2 Hereford FC 2 (Summers, Wheatley)
Northampton Spencer 3 Southam United 0
Oadby Town 0 Alvechurch 3 (March, Foster, Bellis)
Paget Rangers 2 (Morris 2) Boldmere St Michaels 2 (Capaldi, Clarke)
Pelsall Villa 2 Dudley Sports 1
Pershore Town 4 (Griffiths, Walsh, Gifford, Hall) Badsey Rangers 1
Powick Rangers 2 Perrywood 1
Quorn 1 (Thompson) Swaffham Town 3
Racing Club Warwick 1 Coleshill Town 2
Radford 1 Shepshed Dynamo 3 (Porter, Miveld, Langham)
Redgate Clayton 1 Rocester 3 (Mottershead 2, Williams)
Romulus 2 Hinckley AFC 1 (Adaggio)
Rostance Edwards 3 Wolverhampton Casuals 1
Shifnal Town 1 Lye Town 3
Smithswood Firs 0 Hampton 3 (Crane, Joynes, Richardson)
South Normanton 0 Long Eaton United 0
Stapenhill 1 Atherstone Town 5 (Ball 2, Smith, Miller, Thorpe)
Teversal 0 Heanor Town 5 (Debrouwer, Cooper 2, Benger, OG)
Wednesfield 2 Coton Green 2
Wolverhampton Sporting 2 Walsall Wood 0

Monday 20th July
Pinxton 3 Heanor Town 2 (Naylor, Clarke)
Sutton United 1 Pilkington XXX 2
Leicester Road 2 (Lyne, OG) Blaby & Whetstone 0
Tuesday 21st July
Alcester Town 3 Feckenham 0
Arnold Town 2 Dunkirk 3 (Hastie 2, Hemagou)
Atherstone Town 2 (White, Tyler) Alvis Sporting Club 2
Bewdley Town 1 Stourport Swifts 3
Bilston Town 1 Sporting Khalsa 2 (Reid, West)
Boldmere St Michaels 2 (Palmer, Clarke) Sutton Coldfield Town 3
Bolehall Swifts 0 Coleshill Town 6
Bromsgrove Sporting 3 (McKenzie, Brain, Gibson) Stratford Town 3
Continental Star 0 Rushall Olympic 0
Coventry United 5 (Nduna 2, Briscoe, Dakouri 2) Barnt Green Spartak 0
Heath Hayes 1 (Watkins) Chasetown 1
Hinckley AFC 1 (Richards) Barwell 3
Ingles FC 2 Shepshed Dynamo 2
Lichfield City 2 (Clarke, OG) AFC Wulfrunians 1 (Henslow)
Lydney Town 2 Westfields 1 (Cuss)
Paget Rangers 7 Burntwood 1
Pelsall Villa 1 (Williams) Walsall Wood 0
Quorn 2 (Staniland 2) Gresley 3
Racing Club Warwick 2 (McKenzie, Junior) Long Buckby 1
Rocester 0 Hanley Town 3
Stafford Town 3 Market Drayton Town 7
Stapenhill 3 Barton United 0
Wellington 2 Hereford FC 4

Wednesday 22nd July
AFC Solihull 0 Leamington Hibernian 4
Chelmsley Town 2 Coleshill Town 2
Darlaston Town 2 Rostance Edwards 2
Droitwich Spa 1 Worcester City 3
Littleton 3 Malvern Town 2
Shawbury United 4 Brocton 2
Tipton Town 0 Tividale 2
Willenhall Town 0 Walsall Wood 2
Wolverhampton Sporting 1 Alvechurch 5 (Ashton, Ambula, Turton, Priest, Edwards)

Thursday 23rd July
Aylestone Park 1 Shepshed Dynamo 3 (Porter, Meade, Whymark)
Dunkirk 1 (Green) Coalville Town 1
Folly Lane 5 Barnt Green Spartak 2
Highgate United 3 Paget Rangers 2
Leicester Road 1 (Hicks) St Andrews 0
Loughborough University 2 Stratford Town 3
Nuneaton Town 2 Nuneaton Griff 2 (Millerchip, Brennan)
Pelsall Villa 0 Sikh Hunters 2
Worcester City Academy 3 Perrywood 3
Wyrley Juniors 0 Heath Hayes 1

Midland Football League Newsletter

17th July 2015

League News

The fixtures for the opening month of the season have been released and generated a lot of excitement across the league. Hereford at home to free-scoring Dunkirk is a mouthwatering proposition as is Sporting Khalsa at home to Coleshill. Coventry United begin their first season in Division 1 with a trip to Littleton whilst Lichfield City vs Atherstone Town features two clubs enjoying a good pre-season.

The pre-season friendlies are well under way and thank you to all the clubs that have furnished me with details of both fixtures and results.

The travels of the Press Officer

Saturday 11th July

Hereford FC 1 FC United of Manchester 0

What a day! A crowd of 4,257 welcomed football back to Edgar Street

There was a real buzz about the place before the game with everyone genuinely excited to see football again at Edgar Street. Great to hear Chairman John Hale before the game thanking everyone in getting the Bulls to this stage. Chatting to supporters before kick off, there is optimism for the season ahead tinged with a sense of realism that it will be a battle.

The atmosphere inside the ground was superb and as pre-season friendlies go, it was a decent game. Difference between the two sides for me were the respective keepers. Rivers, for the Bulls was outstanding while Culkin for FCUM has had better afternoons. I left the ground genuinely excited for the MFL season. On first showing, the Bulls will be competitive in what is a very tough division. A visit to Edgar Street will be high on everyone's agenda even though the away support will be nothing like that supplied by FC United (328).

Tuesday 14th July

Lichfield City 2 Stafford Rangers 1

Another excellent pre-season friendly with Division 1 Lichfield getting the better of Evostik South Stafford Rangers. The game was played in fine drizzle but it didn’t deter a decent crowd from turning out. Tony Clarke gave City the lead in the first half with Rangers equalising after the break. The winner came close on full time when Adam Wood beat the Rangers keeper to the ball and nodded home. An impressive performance from Lichfield who have recruited well over the summer.

Don’t be surprised to see them in the mix at the end of the season.

Thursday 16th July

Stafford Town 2 Stafford Rangers 3

Two games following my own team this week and a hard fought win for Rangers at Division 1 Stafford Town. A healthy crowd of 220 witnessed the local derby at Evans Park with Town twice coming from behind to equalise through Tom Green. Rangers superiority finally told late on in a no holds-barred ‘friendly’.

I am off to Sporting Khalsa this evening for their friendly against Halesowen but am having a day off from football tomorrow as the fast jets of The Royal International Air Tattoo beckon. I will be at a game on Tuesday, keep checking Twitter to see where I end up.

Pre- season results

9th July

Holbrook St Michaels 1 Long Eaton United 3

10th July

Boldmere St Michaels 1 Aston Villa XI 3

Sutton Coldfield Town 2 Lichfield City 0

11th July

AFC Solihull 0 Barnt Green Spartak 4 (Ellis 2, Dunkley, Milan)

Anstey Nomads 1 Atherstone Town 6 (Gray 2, Smith, Storey, White, McEnroe)

Aston United 1 Long Eaton United 2

Austrey Rangers 1 (Keeley) Uttoxeter Town 3

Aylestone Park 4 Coton Green 0

Barton United 2 Cannock United 2 (Hall, Thompson)

Basford United 0 Coleshill Town 3

Brocton 0 Romulus 2

Coventry Sphinx 1 Folly Lane 2

Coventry United 5 Brinklow 1

Eastwood 2 Sporting Khalsa 7 (Westwood 2, Reid 2, Hadley, Townsend, Hanley)

Ellesmere 2 Lye Town 0

Enville Athletic 2 Willenhall Town 2

Fairfield Villa 1 Highgate United 8 (Benjamin 2, Smith 2, Lennin 2, Curtis, Daly)

FC Stratford 4 Bromsgrove Sporting 7 (Corbett 2, Hewitt, Eminoglu, OG, Dugmore, Wills)

Gedling Miners Welfare 0 Dunkirk 5 (Bradshaw, Osborne, Green, Bopp, Ogedi-Uzokwe)

Graham Street Prims 2 Bardon Hill 4

Harrowby United 1 Shepshed Dynamo 1

Heath Hayes 1 Rushall olympic 3

Hereford FC 1 (Hughes) FC United of Manchester 0

Hucknall Town 3 Heanor Town 2 (Hawkins, Shaw)

Jaguar Daimler 0 Knowle 1 (Torryn)

Kenilworth Town 1 Nuneaton Griff 10 (Baxter, Harris 2, Slinn 2, Moore 3, Willow, OG)

Littleton 0 Alvechurch 1 (Edwards)

Paget Rangers 5 Continental Star 0

Pershore Town 1 (Hall) Redditch United 1

Quorn 3 Hinckley AFC 4 (Ebanks 3, Roberts)

Racing Club Warwick 3 (Langmead, McKenzie, Deenin) Gornal Athletic 3

Rocester 0 Port Vale XI 1

Rostance Edwards 1 Warstone Wanderers 2

Shenstone Pathfinders 3 Burntwood Town 2

Smithswood Firs 1 Alvis Sporting 4

Stourport Swifts 1 Kidderminster Harriers 0

Studley 1 Chasetown 6

Walsall Wood 1 Hednesford Town 1

12th July

Droitwich Spa 2 Southam United 0

13th July

Eastwood 2 Heanor Town 1

14th July

AFC Wulfrunians 3 (Anslow, Sedgemore, King) Hednesford Town 3

Bardon Hill 2 (Papparozzi) Grantham Town 2

Broadwell United 1 Westfields 5 (Bendall 2, Cuss, Jones, Tambling)

Coventry Sphinx 1 Chasetown 2

Coventry United 7 (Mussa, Moyo, OG 2, Galdins, Kelly 2) Paget Rangers 0

Cradley Town 2 Alvechurch 3 (Priest, Huckfield)

Darlaston Town 1874 1 Sporting Khalsa 6

Hereford FC 0 West Bromwich Albion XI 6

Hinckley AFC 0 Tamworth 3

Kimberley Miners Walfare 0 Dunkirk 7 (Green 2, Westcarr 2, Lang, Wilcox, Ogedi-Uzokwe)

Lichfield City 2 (Clarke, Wood) Stafford Rangers 1

Newport Town 2 Stafford Town 0

Quorn 4 Holbrook Sports 2

Racing Club Warwick 1 (MacKenzie) Leamington 4

Rocester 0 Leek Town 4

Romulus 4 Studley 1

Rugby Town 8 Continental Star 2

Walsall Wood 1 Rushall Olympic 4

15th July

Smithswood Firs 4 Barnt Green Spartak 0

Wolverhampton Casuals 1 Sporting Khalsa 3 (Bannister 2,

Westwood)

16th July

Atherstone Town 4 (Smith 2, Gray, Latham) Tamworth XI 2

Droitwich Spa 2 Redditch United 7

Shawbury Town 4 AFC Wulfrunians 2

Stafford Town 2 (Green 2) Stafford Rangers 3

Kimberley MW 1 Heanor 3 (Debrouwer 2, Clarke)

Heather St Johns 1 (Yonwin) Aylestone Park 2

Friendlies Required

Received an enquiry from STM Sports AFC

I was wondering if you knew of any of your teams that needed a game on the 8th August 2015.

We are willing to travel or if anybody fancied a trip to sunny Cardiff we could entertain them.

We play in our Welsh League Division 3, which is a very good standard and I am sure would be similar to yours.

Nigel Bircham

Secretary & Vice Chairman

STM Sports AFC

11 Clos Cwm Creunant

Pontprennau

Cardiff

CF23 8LA

Home - 02920 540973 Mobile - 07813 170556 www.stmsportsafc.co.uk

Request from Hereford FC

Hereford FC have a blank date for a MFL Premier fixture on Saturday August 29th and, that due to having four away matches already in the month, we would be looking for a home fixture for that date if any clubs found themselves at a loose end after the first round of FA Cup fixtures.